COLUMBIA —South Carolina football quarterback LaNorris Sellers knows his performance Saturday in the season opener against Old Dominion wasn’t flawless.
“It wasn’t the best,” Sellers said of his performance in the 23-19 win. “Timid, kind of nervous, scared to make a mistake, I just have to go out there and play, be myself.”
Sellers, a redshirt freshman, finished his first game as a starter completing 10 of 23 passes for 114 yards and rushing 22 times for 102 yards. The offense scored twice, both on rushing plays from three yards or less, including one by Sellers.
Moving onto Kentucky on Saturday, (3:30 p.m ET, ABC), Sellers has a short amount of time to correct his mistakes, but he said Tuesday he’s the first to point out what he could have done differently.
“I usually criticize myself a lot. As I went through the film, I could tell I wasn’t myself,” he said. “I was jumpy, I was fast, going through my reads fast but I just need to be more patient. I just wasn’t comfortable, I guess you could say.”
Communication and execution are two obvious categories Sellers said need to improve. Sellers watches film multiple times, first to address the specific he plays he remembers, then to go through in a more detailed fashion, with a critical eye. By the third or fourth time, he looks at schemes.
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Coach Shane Beamer acknowledged the obvious pressure Sellers has on him that goes beyond just his age. He’s not only young but a local kid, starting his first game in a Gamecocks uniform less than 100 miles from where he grew up and won a state title.
“Relax, have fun, he’s our guy, he’s a hell of a quarterback,” Beamer said of his message to Sellers. “There’s a lot of pressure on that guy … the expectations, rightfully so, he’s a really good quarterback and he had high expectations and I told him on Friday, he didn’t need to be Superman. I told him go out there and relax.”
Beamer told Sellers he believes the Gamecocks are stronger around him this season than they were around Spencer Rattler last year, a nod to the current offensive line. Beamer wants Sellers to remember he doesn’t have to do anything by himself.
“The expectations game one, you’re in that stadium, you want to play great, and he did a lot of really good things,” Beamer said. “He did some good stuff and we will be a team that offensively continues to get better every week.”
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
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Publish date : 2024-09-03 08:38:00
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